How appropriate that as I write this post for today’s Throwback, one of the top trending topics on Twitter is “Good old NES Games.”

Today’s throwback was thought up when a couple of the PixelatedGeek crew got together last weekend at Dave & Busters. We all started talking about tech, video games, internets etc etc.  But then the topic of the conversation went towards a direction I loved. Retro games. Now, I thought I was only one of the few that knew or even played this game called “Caveman Games.”  But, I think it was James and Andrew that played it. So, it was nice to know that someone knew what I was talking about. If you don’t know what Caveman Games is, go past the break. (more…)

Yes. I know. I’m late again.  Been so gosh darn busy with setting up appointments for PAX 2009, working at my new job, and just being lazy due to the San Diego heat wave. ugh. But here it is, you’re Thursday Throwback.

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.  I remember when this toy first came out.  I was geeking out about it while on the way to Kay Bee Toy Story at Plaza Bonita to get it.  Oh, man.  When I brought it home and popped in the VHS tape, I knew that I was playing with advanced technology.  I mean, how cool was it to play with a toy, that came with its own VHS tape that interacted with the toy?! I’m just smiling about it right now while writing this entry. If you don’t know what Captain Power was, check out the video past the break. (more…)

I remember when this intro was the greatest and most realistic graphics I have ever seen on a computer.  It sucked though that my 25Mhz computer (with TURBO button on!) couldn’t handle this intro.  So, I had to watch it at my neighbors house.  Boy was I jealous.

When I finally got a computer that could run Warcraft 2, I immediately started playing and fell in love with my first RTS game.  I also remember my first days of Battle.net.  They consisted of a 28.8Kbps modem over the Prodigy ISP, my dads cell phone, and my friend from middle school.  We played 2v2 matches until our bedtimes. Boy did my dad get mad and ground me off the computer when he noticed his cell phone bill the month after.

See, my friend from middle school had it good.  He already had 2 phone lines.  One for his computer, the other for regular phone calls.  I didn’t.  So, I used my dads cell phone as my walkie-talkie or VoIP as we would call it today. I would be yelling out:

“He’s spotted me!”
“Do you need help?”
“GO GO GO!”

At that time, my dad didn’t know what I was yelling about. But I was a good boy and wasn’t doing drugs. So, he let me play my computer games.  this is the game that got me into the Blizzard franchise.  It was like my gateway Blizzpill.  Cause right after that was Starcraft, Starcraft: Brood Wars, Diablo, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, then finally, the World of Warcraft.

Thank you Blizzard for making such great games.  I can’t wait to cover Blizzcon Friday.

Yes, I know.  I’m a day late and a dollar short on my post. Sorry. I had things to see and people to do. <Insert third cliched saying here.>

Ok, now that’s out of the way.  Just the other day, my GF was playing old cartoon intros on YouTube.  It made us realize that they don’t make them like they used to.  Each cartoon’s theme was so catchy and fun to sing.  Man, Saturday morning cartoons aren’t the same anymore.  Everything is about trading card monsters coming to life or something to that effect.  *sigh*

Why not go back in memory land and watch cartoon intros past the break. (more…)

I think any kids of the 80’s loved things that could transform into something else to help fight crime.  When I was a kid I loved the original Transformers cartoon.  So, it was no surprise that I also got hooked on Mask Crusaders.  Cars that can turn into a jet?! Jeeps that can shoot out a boat?! Motorcycles that can turn into a helicopter?! And to top it all off, they all had cool masks while working in a secret in headquarters in a mountain.  Now how cool is that?!

I still have the car and the motorcycle Mask toys.  They are still cool.

A Couple of days ago, my good friend Aric brought over his PS3 to help cure my boredom form being jobless.  What I didn’t expect was him booting up an old school game we used to play back in grade school. Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo is a game that has most of the characters and special moves form Street Fighter 2 but has nothing to do with the fighting aspect of it.  This is a puzzle game thats a little bit of Dr. Mario and a little bit of Tetris.

What you are supposed to do is keep all the colors connected.  It doesn’t matter which direction, they just need to be touching each other.  If you have a 2×2 square of one color, they turn into a bigger gem.  You want to grow your gems because once you get a “sphere” in that same color, they break all of those blocks that are connected to it.

The more blocks you break, the more random color blocks you give your opponent.  First person to get a full screen loses.  This game is available now on PS3 for download. I highly recommend you get this game if you own a PS3.

Gosh, I remember watching this cartoon and wondering if and when I could play with the tech toys they had.  Wondering, when would I be able to walk my dog on a stationary moving platform or when would I be able to drive a flying car that folds us into a light weight briefcase or have a robot maid.  The show is still a couple years ahead of us with technology, but we are getting closer and closer to it.

To view a Jetson to Real Life technology comparison, go past the break

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Life growing up as a science kid genius isn’t all Nobel prizes and roses.  It’s full of school bullies, science experiments, social awkwardness and a weird sister.  Such is the life of Dexter.  I remember watching almost every episode of this cartoon.  The humor and cool inventions always kept me tuning into the show.  Dexter’s shenanigans and  accent always made me smile.  I wish Cartoon Network would bring this series back.

Remember Super Soakers?  Yes, they are still out in toy stores. But have you ever seen the inventor of it?  Ronnie Johnson, a very humble NASA scientist stumbled upon his invention in his bathroom.  His invention changed the water pistol toy genre forever.  I remember buying one of these when I was a kid, but always wanted the biggest and baddest one.  When I did get it, It had 3 tanks of water, for barrels for 2 streams of water and a backpack.  Being a little 4 foot 10 guy at that time, I quickly realized that bigger wasn’t always better. It took so long to pump to get enough pressure for both barrels and the backpack was heavy due to the water weight. ugh.

To learn more about the scientist who invented the greatest water gun, go past the break. (more…)

It was back during a time of cooties and ice cream cake, and it was in between the tetherball and four-square courts. Only the toughest survived – the weak were sent to the depths of the principal’s office. A throng of rebels would participate daily in perhaps one of the most daring games of the 1990s. How did they do it? By using slammers to knock down a stack of round pieces of cardboard.

With that said, if you didn’t play pogs for keeps, you were a fucking pussy.

Years before the elementary school crackdown on Tamagotchi, keeping pogs around during school hours and on school property was an indication of how truly bad-ass a fifth grader could be. Boys would be envious of the strength of your metal slammer and girls would be enticed by the size of your pog case.

The types of pogs you flaunted would also serve as an almost direct reflection of your popularity. For example, owning a few free pogs from a car dealership usually meant you ate lunch by yourself. In contrast, boasting a vast collection of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Power Caps would make your coolness factor skyrocket – you’d just have to be careful of not using the knock-offs from the swap meet.

Whether your pogs were from Gargoyles, Animaniacs, the Tick or Sailor Moon, what you had was perhaps one of the last of a dying breed – that is, one of the last taboo toys that you could’ve spent your lunch money on. Seeing as how elementary students of our day are now fussing around with the likes of BlackBerries and iPods and all the such, we can only hope that one day a generation will once again experience the beauty of the pog.